An almost dead calm for the beginning of the year but still 222 ships scrapped, or a 34 km-long convoy. Tankers are in the lead. They are heading younger and younger for the demolition beaches especially double hull ships. The Amba Bhavanee demolished in Alang was 15 years old.

In tonnage, Bangladesh is sweeping the board with the temporary ban of oil tankers in Pakistan. China continues being off-side

27% of the ships scrapped belonged to European or EFTA shipowners.
Of 222 ships, only 6% were scrapped in Europe.

Robin des Bois (Robin Hood) suggests that the port of Sète along the Mediterranean Sea be by special derogation incorporated into the Abuja MoU (Memorandum of Understanding), a West African maritime agreement reputed to be non-existent in the quality control of ships calling in the ports of Abidjan, Lomé, Lagos among others.

Indeed the port of Sète and his maritime safety centre are getting ready in the coming days to let the Paris, a Spanish tug, leave Sète towing the Rio Tagus spoiled by rust and water ingress. She is berthed at Sète for 8 years.

– Since Issue # 1 (January 2006), “Shipbreaking” has accompanied 10,026 end-of-life ships, which is to say a 1715 km-long convoy, a tonnage of 87 million tons of scrap metal, about 2 million tons of waste and a US$ 33 billion market. Europe has demolished 219 of them.

The Chambord, oil tanker for Société Maritime des Pétroles BP was built in Dunkirk by Ateliers et Chantiers de France. On January 11, 1955, her launch ceremony under the French flag was presided over by Jacques Chaban-Delmas, Minister of Public Works, Transport, and Merchant Navy, in front of a crowd of notable spectators who arrived in two special trains and a fleet of coaches and cars. With her length of 203.39 m, width of 26.25 m, and 33,000 t of deadweight, she was a giant and the flagship of the French oil tanker fleet. Complete with individual, air-conditioned cabins for all, private bathrooms with showers for the officers, cool water dispensers in all of the corridors, refrigerators at all stations, and a saltwater pool, she was a symbol of rebirth and universal progress. Three sisterships left the shipyard in Dunkirk between 1955 and 1958, the Chenonceaux, Cheverny and Chaumont. The Chambord had made her maiden voyage between Marseille and Al Ahmadi (Kuwait) in May 1955. For 17 years, she supplied the French BP refineries.

– Alert on knowingly wreckless towings of offshore platforms and discarded ships from Northern Europe to Turkey. The case of the two Maersk supply ships sunk off Brittany is dissected. Letter on this subject to the authorities concerned, including the two Maritime Prefects of the French Atlantic coast.

– The end of Shen Neng 1. In 2010, she polluted and degraded the Great Barrier Reef off Queensland, Australia, to gain 2 miles on a 4500-mile return voyage to China.

– The Rio Tagus has been stuck since 2010 or how the French government and the port of Sète are trying to get rid of a bulky wreck.

In accordance with a press release by Robin des Bois dated June 16, 2017 and with numerous prior reports in the NGO’s quarterly publication “Shipbreaking”, the Bangladesh Supreme Court has just banned the dismantling of the North Sea Producer, a former FPSO (Floating Production Storage Offloading), i. e. a floating plant used to refine and store crude oil extracted through offshore platforms.

In close succession, Alang Bay, Gujarat State, India, and the workers have welcomed three discarded ships belonging to European ship owners and liable to present “hot spots” of radioactivity.

1- The BBC Shanghai, a general cargo ship. She has been carrying nuclear waste, notably between France and Australia (Cf. “BBC Shanghai, a radioactive risk for Asia”, september 12, 2017)

2- The Atlantic Cartier, built in 1985 in Dunkirk, France. She flies the Swedish flag. She is a Ro Ro container ship able in her initial profile to ship 2100 boxes and 600 cars. She was jumboized in 1987. She suffered a major fire in Hamburg, Germany, during the night of May 1st, 2013.

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Robin des Bois was founded in France in 1985 by pioneers of environmental protection. The NGO’s orientation is decided on by a board elected by the member’s General Assembly and carried out by 8 full-time staff members with multidisciplinary skills. Robin des Bois’ objective is the protection of Man and the Environment by means of all forms of research and non-violent action. Words are our only weapon. On ground investigations, bibliographic synthesis, publishing reports, press releases, letters to authorities, regular participation to a dozen institutional consulting groups and international conventions: we are at work with our grey matter, solid boots and a good dose of flair. We put forward technical, historical, geographical, sometimes philosophical arguments, with a strong will to remain concrete and constructive.
Robin des Bois is supported by a national and international network of supporters and professionals in areas such as the maritime community, anti-environmental criminality, risk management, waste and polluted sites. The NGO is not affiliated to any political party. Our campaigns require perseverance and are to be carried out over the long term. Robin des Bois also takes legal action and part took in the success of the historical law suit concerning the Erika oil spill, and such without the help of a lawyer. The NGO is in France accredited for the protection of the environment.